Pretend in London, and this film was the beginning of a deal signed with Warner Bros. As part of an agreement with the London County Council, Cummins was limited to five house of filming per day and had to be supervised by a governess. The film was also a debut for her co-star Shaun Glenville, a music hall performer. This was only one of two film roles Glenville played in his career. Release and reception Dr. O'Dowd was distributed by the production studio Warner Bros. in 1940, with an initial trade showing in London on 16 January 1940. It had a public release in UK and Ireland in the same year. It was also distributed in America and Australia. The film was received very positively by critics. One Irish newspaper described it as "one of the best films about Ireland ever made." Kinematograph Weekly summed up its positive response to the film as: "Good story, competent treatment, captivating juvenile angle, effective dramatic twists, good comedy and excellent atmosphere." In Australia, The Examiner described it as "one of the surprise hits of the year". Praise was particularly given to the two main actors, Shaun Glenville and Peggy Cummins. Despite the latter's young age, Kinematograph Weekly predicted that "Given the chance, she'll go far". Halliwell's Film Guide describes it as a "somewhat woebegone tearjerker with an interesting cast". The film is missing from the BFI National Archive, and is listed as one of the British Film Institute's "75 Most Wanted" lost films. No sequences of film are known to survive, although the BFI does possess a collection of stills from the production. References External links Dr. O'Dowd at BFI Dr. O'Dowd at AllMovie 1940 films 1940 drama films 1940 lost films British drama films 1940s English-language films Films directed by Herbert Mason Lost British films British black-and-white films Lost drama films 1940s British films